It is so much fun learning the night sky! One of the tools I've been using is Stellarium (http://www.stellarium.org) because it is a free & open source. Any planetarium software would work. It allows someone to learn during the day (or cloudy weather). Turning off all the labels and removing the horizon leaves only the stars as guides. Simulations like this enhance observational efficiency and removes some of the guesswork. Planetarium only software is very useful, but it is obvious that there are limits to this kind of software. Stellarium doesn't have any observational planning features. It just draws stars. If the name of the game is enhancing efficiency and tracking progress, more is needed. When reviewing astronomy related software it is quite difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. For someone like myself who is used to using very complex software, Stellarium doesn't cut it. Does the group have any recommendations for quality astronomy related software? Is there a clear leader in the industry for something that combines observation planning & logging, planetarium features, and perhaps more? Red Shift (http://www.redshift-live.com/en/about-redshift.html) seems to have a lot of marketing going on, but that isn't always a good measure of quality software. Any and all advice appreciated. -Ryan